Hairpin holder



R. E. RATLIFF HAIRPIN HOLDER Filed June 4, 1946 R. m m ,m

April 8, 1952 Patented Apr. 8, 17952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEHAIRZPIN HOLDER Rudolph E. Ratlii, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application June 4, 1946, rSerial No. 674,355

6 Claims.

My invention relates .generally `to holders, v.and more particularly toholders of the type adapted to hold .hair pins and other objects in aconvenient and accessible location without danger of spilling during the:process of waving or otherwise treating the hair of a person.

.During the process of waving a persons hair, a large number of hairIpins rare used to hold the hair in place while the hair is being dried,and occasionally during the giving of the wave itself. In order to savetime, 'these Vhairpins 4should :be readily accessible so that they maybe inserted and removed from the hair with a .minimum amount vof motionon 'the part of 4the operator. Heretofore, hairdressers have usuallyplaced a towel over the shoulder of a customer and then placed 'thehairpins thereon iso that the latter would be conveniently located forinsertion inthe hair. Such a procedure is obviously unsatisfactory,since a very slight `motion of the customer lwill cause the hairpins todrop, and 'any slight vcarelessness on `fthe part lof the operator vinre- Vnear the customers chair, -but the shelf for table restricts `theoperators movements and is generally inconvenient.

It is therefore a major fobject Aof my invention to provide a holder'for hairpins and similar articles so that they will beconvenien'tlylocated for instant use.

It is another object of my linvention to vprovide such a device whereinthe vpins `are held by means which insures that they will not be spilledfrom the holder.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a device which may'be 'moved to any desired position, and hence need not interfere withthe operator -at any time.

It is still another object of my invention to provide such a devicewhich may be easily and cheaply manufactured, and 'is capable ofwidesprejtl application.

These and other objects and advantages .of my invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, andfrom the drawings illustrating that form .in

which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of .my improved holder as it appears when:attached to the back of a chair in which the customer sits;

Fig. 2 is a lplan-view fof the device;

operations.

Fig. 3 lis -a view taken at 3-.3 in Fig. 2, with portions shown incross-section; :and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the releasable coupling, taken at4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly Fig. 1 thereof, thenumeral I0 indicates a chair of the usual type used in beauty shops andsimilar establishments. Such chairs .are customarily provided with aspaced bar Il which .extends horizontally across the back of the ,chairat a slight distance therefrom; `and a customer ywhoselfiair is to betreated -is seated ,in the chair while the hairdresser performs thenecessary Removably held to the bar H is a base member in the form of aclamp l2 which .has -a vgenerally horizontal arm I3 .pivotally vfat-.end by ra hinge 22 land with their opposite ends Vformed to -engage'thecrossbar il. ,A bolt 23 ex- `tends between -arms 20 and 2| `and isprovided with a wing nut 24 which may be tightened to cause the jaws togrip the crossbar H :iir-mly, while va helical spring 2-5 surroundsthebolt 23 Iand urges the jaws apart as the nut 24 is loosened. Althoughit is generally unnecessary. an vangle bracket 26 may be slidablyattached to the yclamp l2 by .bolt L23 so that any tendency of lthe.clamp to rotate on the crossbar H will be prevented by the bracketsbearing against the back aof the chair I0.

Extending upwardly .from the upper arm 26 near hinge 22 iis a pin 2lwhich is adapted toreceive one end of the arm .-Ii3. .Arm Vt3 may beformed `of lsolid or tubular material, `,and has a relatively longhorizontal .section with .a relatively --shor-t vertical section at oneend thereof which has a bore 14'3 adapted to lfit over pin 21 and :berotatably 'held thereby. The opposite iendof arm Lli3 .is .provided with.a clamping means such fas an Veye '-30 through which the verticalmember I4 may extend and be held .by a thumb screw V3l. While the sizeof the various members `:may vobviously be varied to meet differentconditions. I have found that if the horizontal portionof the arm 'I3 isapproximately 6" long, and the vertical member I4 is approximately 14"'long, `a-device will be yprovided which may vbe tted -on most chairsused in y.beauty shops, and adjusted to the proper height 'for use withmost customers.

The supporting arm I5 is swingably attached to the upper en d of thevertical member I4, and while various connecting means may be used, Ihave found the device shown in Fig. 4 to be very satisfactory. As shownin that view, the upper end of the member I4 is hollow and is providedwith a spring member 32 carrying a rounded detent 33 on its free end,which extends through a hole 34 in the member I4. The lower end of thesupporting arm I5 has a central portion 35 of reduced cross-section,thereby providing a shoulder 36 which bears against the upper end ofmember I4 so that the latter will support the arm. The central portion35 is formed to have substantially the same cross-sectional area as thatof the hole in the upper end of member I4; and a restricted portion orgroove 31 is formed to receive the detent 33, while the lower end of thecentral portion is rounded as shown at 38 to move the detent outwardlyas the central portion is inserted in the vertical member I4. Since thegroove 31 extends completely around the central portion 35, thesupporting arm I5 may be rotated through 360 degrees about vthe axis ofmember I4; and the arm is firmly supported by the upper end of thevertical member which bears against the shoulder 36, while the detent 33prevents accidental disengagement of the two members. w

The supporting arm I5 extends upwardly a short distance above the upperend of the vertical member I4, and is provided with a horizontalportion, at the end of which it is again bent upwardly so that agenerally Z-shaped member is provided. While the dimensions are notcritical, I have found that if the horizontal portion of the supportingarm I5 is approximately 51/2, very satisfactory results are obtained.

As previously mentioned, the tray or holder I6 is mounted on the upperend of the supportingarm I5; and as shown in the drawings, the tray maytake the form of a relatively fiat, saucerlike receptacle whichpreferably has a plurality of legs extending downwardly from its lowersurface. Centrally located with respect to tray Ie is a collar 4I whichis attached to the underside thereof and has a bore 44 adapted toreceive the upper end of supporting arm I5. The collar 4I may take anyconvenient form, but is preferably designed so that the tray I6 may berotated about the upper end of arm I5, though this latter feature may beomitted if desired. 'Ihe tray I5, however, should be readily removablefrom the supporting arm I 5 so that the tray may be placed on a table,shelf, or other suitable flat surface; and to this end, the legs 40should extend downwardly a distance so that they and not the collar 4Iwill support the tray under these conditions.

To aid in holding the hair pins `within the tray I 6, I mount a smallpermanent magnet 42 in the center of the tray so that hair pins andsimilar ferro-magnetic articles will be attracted to it and heldthereby. By mounting the magnet 42 so that it may be easily slipped intoor out of its holding means, the magnet may be used to remove the hairpins from the hair so that a minimum disturbance of the wave isproduced. While permanent magnets are now used for this operation, suchmagnets are intended for that use only and have no other intended fieldof usefulness. However, with my device the magnet may be first insertedin the tray and the hair pins to be used then placed in the tray wherethey will be attracted to and held by the magnet. After the pins havebeen placed in the hair, they may be removed therefrom by removing themagnet 42 from the tray IIS, touching the magnet to the individual pins,and sliding them out of the hair. When all of the pins halve beenremoved, the magnet may then be replaced in the tray I6, where it willagain attract the pins and prevent them from being spilled from thetray.

In using this device, the clamp I2 is iirmly attached to the crossbar IIand the bracket 26 is pushed against the back of the chair I0 so thatthe upright member I4 is vertical. If the horizontal arm I3 has beenremoved from the pin 21, it is replaced thereon; and the vertical memberI4 is adjusted to the proper height for the customer seated in the chairI0. The clamp I2 is preferably located in the middle of the crossbar IIso that the vertical member I4 may be swung to either side of the chair;and the tray I6 with the magnet 42 and the required hair pins therein isplaced on the supporting arm I5 and the latter is moved to the desiredposition, usually just over the shoulder of the customer. The hairpinsare then inserted in the hair in the usual manner, and when desired, thehorizontal arm I3 may be swung so that the tray I6 is located over theother shoulder of the customer. Since the tray I6 is supportedindependently of the customer, the latter has a greater freedom ofmovement and. there is no danger of the hairpins being spilled by reasonof this movement, or by the operators knocking them.

When it is desired to remove the pins, the magnet 42 may be used in themanner previously described. Should it be necessary for the customer tomove from one seat to another during any of this procedure, tray I6 maybe removed from the supporting arm I5 and either placed on thesupporting arm of a similar device on another chair, or rested on atable, shelf, or other fiat surface. 'The tray I5 is not restricted toholding hairpins, but may hold other equipment and materials used invarious beauty treatments.

While specific details of construction have been shown in the hereinillustrated exempliiication, it Iwill be apparent that changes andmodifications may be made within the skill of the average mechanic, suchas the selection and substitution of materials, the reversal of parts,the choice of finishes, etc. These and other modifications ofmy devicemay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention asdisclosed herein, and while I have shown and described the preferredform of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to the particular formor arrangement of parts herein described and shown, except as covered bymy claims.

I claim:

1. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles and adapted to beremovably attached to a portion of a chair or similar member. including:a manually operable clamp member adapted to be removably attached to ahorizontal member extending across the back of said chair; a bracketmember attached to said clamp an bearing against said chair to preventthe rota n of said clamp about said horizontal member; a pin attached tothe upper surface of said clamp and extending upwardly therefrom; agenerally horizontal arm pivotally attached to said pin for rotationabout a generally vertical axis; a generally vertical member; an eyeformed in the free end of said horizontal arm adapted to receive saidvertical member; screW means attached to said eye and adjustable to holdsaid vertical member to said horizontal member at any point along thelength of the former; a generally horizontal supporting arm pivotallyattached to the upper end of said vertical member for rotation about agenerally vertical axis; and a tray removably attached to the free endof said supporting arm.

2. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles and adapted to beremovably attached to a portion of a chair or similar member, including:a manually operable clamp member adapted to be removably attached to ahorizontal supporting member; a pin attached to the upper surface ofsaid clamp and extending upwardly therefrom; a generally horizontal armattached to said pin for rotation about a generally vertical axis;

a generally vertical member; an eye formed in the free end of saidhorizontal arm adapted to receive said vertical member; means attachedto said eye and manually operable to hold said vertical member theretoat any point along its length; a generally horizontal supporting armattached to the upper end of said Vertical member for rotation about agenerally vertical axis; a tray attached to the free end of saidsupporting arm; and a magnet removably mounted in said tray to attractand hold ferromagnetic articles.

3. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles and adapted to beremovably attached to a portion of a chair or similar member, including:a manually operable clamp member adapted to be removably attached to ahorizontal supporting member; a pin attached to the upper surface ofsaid clamp and extending upwardly therefrom; a generally horizontal armattached to said pin for rotation about a generally vertical axis; agenerally vertical member; means attached to said horizontal arm toreleasably hold said vertical member whereby the vertical position ofthe latter may be varied; a generally horizontal supporting arm attachedto the upper end of said vertical member for rotation about a generallyvertical axis; and a tray attached to the free end of said supportingarm adapted to receive a magnet to attract and hold ferro-magneticarticles.

4. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles and adapted to beattached to a supporting member, including: a base member adapted to berigidly attached to said supporting member; a vertically extending pinconnector member on the upper surface of said base member at the outerend thereof; a generally horizontal arm having pin connector meanscooperating with said pin connector member of said base member tosupport said arm for rotation about a generally vertical axis; agenerally vertical member, means at the outer end of said armreleasabliT connecting said vertical member for generally verticalmovement with respect to the arm; an upper generally horizontalsupporting arm pivotally connected to the upper end of said verticalmember for rotation about the generally vertical axis of the latter; anda tray removably attached to the opposite end of said last-mentionedhorizontal arm.

5. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles and adapted to beattached to a supporting member, including: a base member adapted to berigidly attached to said supporting member; a generally horizontal armpivotally connected to said base member by a pin and socket means nearthe outer end of the latter for rotation about a generally vertical axispassing through said base member; a generally vertical member slidablyconnected to the outer end of said arm for generally vertical movementwith respect to the latter; an upper generally horizontal supporting armpivotally connected to the upper end of said vertical member forrotation about the generally vertical axis of the latter; and a trayremovably attached to the opposite end of said last-mentioned horizontalarm.

6. A device for holding hairpins and similar articles which includes: abase member adapted to be attached to a supporting member; a eenerallyhorizontal arm; pin and socket means pivotally connecting saidhorizontal arm to said base member near the outer end thereof forrotation about a generally vertical axis; a generally vertical member;means connecting said vertical member to said horizontal arm forgenerally vertical movement of said vertical member with respect to saidhorizontal arm, said second means being operable to retain said verticalmember in a predetermined position; an upper generally horizontalsupporting arm connected to the upper end of said vertical member forrotation about the generally vertical axis of the latter; and a trayattached to the opposite end of said lastmentioned horizontal arm.

RUDOLPH E. RATLIFF.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS ""0 Number Name 'Date 331,149 McClure Nov. 24,1885 1,198,186 Brown Sept. 12, 1916 1,232,757 Berkley July 10, 1917 n2,283,543 Draper et al May 19, 1942 U') 2,375,565 Liakopulos May 8,19452,409,867 Jones Oct. 22, 1946

